MINISTRY OF EDUCATION
State Department for Basic Education
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Nairobi, December 21, 2025
STATUS OF THE ONGOING PLACEMENT OF GRADE NINE LEARNERS IN SENIOR SCHOOLS
The Ministry of Education wishes to state the following regarding the ongoing placement of learners in Senior Schools:
- The Competency-Based Education (CBE) is founded on the necessity of aligning the education system with National Development goals, global education trends, and the equipping of learners with relevant skills and competencies for a competitive local and international job market. CBE focuses on preparing learners to pursue careers that match their manifest competencies with professional aspirations. It also de-escalates the focus on one-off examinations as a measure of learners’ true competencies.
- In implementing CBE, the Government has been deliberate in embracing consultations with stakeholders. The dialogues have been extended to the planning and development of essential complements, including an appropriate curriculum, the hiring and retooling of teachers, modernization and expansion of schools’ infrastructure, equipment upgrades, and periodic review of implementation status to align it with emerging challenges and realities.
- A key feature of CBE is the provision of pathway selection in Grade 9. This allows students to choose educational pathways that correspond with their demonstrated skills, interests, and aspirations. The options are:
- Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM), (
- Social Sciences, and (
- Arts and Sports. Learners are provided with 12 choices to make for their preferred senior schools (Grade 10), ranging from C1 to C4.
The options give learners a platform to select schools that match their competencies, preferences, and institutions’ capacities. This pathway selection exercise was concluded earlier this year with each learner, under the guidance of parents and teachers, selecting a pathway featuring a three-subject-combination.
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4. To assess learners’ competencies, CBE relies on formative and summative assessments on a 20-20-60 percent basis. Forty percent of the assessment is formative based on Kenya Primary School Education Assessment (KPSEA) in grade 6, while another 20 percent is based on continuous assessment by teachers in grade 7 and 8. The balance of 60 percent is obtained in the Kenya Junior Secondary Education Assessment (KJSEA) administered in Grade 9. This staggered assessment provides a well-rounded and realistic evaluation of learners’ abilities, suitability, and readiness for a specific pathway.
5. The pioneer Kenya Junior School Education Assessment (KJSEA) for Grade 9 was administered in November this year. The examinations were conducted smoothly across the country, and results were officially released on schedule on December 11th. Throughout the exercise, the Ministry involved stakeholders, including the media, to underscore efficiency and competency.
6. Subsequent to the release of results, the Ministry has undertaken the placement of learners into senior schools (Grade 10). This has been done using an automated system that factors in learners’ choices, performance, and other considerations designed to promote merit, equity, and fairness in the allocation of available school spaces.
7. While many learners have been placed in their schools of choice, the Ministry is aware that some parents and candidates have expressed dissatisfaction with the placements. This is largely attributable to high competition and limited admission slots in popular schools, misaligned communication between parents, learners, and heads of institutions on selected schools, and variances between selected pathways and assessment outcomes.
8. To address such concerns, the Ministry will open a seven-day review of senior school choices on Tuesday, December 23rd. Candidates are advised to contact their Grade 9 schools or the Ministry of Education Sub- County and County offices to take advantage of this window through their respective heads of institutions. The review will be guided by an automated system that will match preferences to learners’ performance and the availability of slots in schools. During the review period, incorrect gender entries will also be addressed.
9. Being a pioneer undertaking, the Government appreciates and empathizes with parents, learners, and other stakeholders’ anxieties and uncertainties around the transition to Grade 10. We are dedicated to making the placement process as transparent, fair, and satisfactory as possible while taking into account learners’
preferences and the capacities and available pathways in respective schools. We encourage all involved parties to engage constructively in the placement process as we collectively refine and strengthen CBE for the benefit of our learners.
Amb. (Prof.) Julius K. Bitok, CBS PRINCIPAL SECRETARY
